FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — U.S. Soccer is in “active discussions” with Mauricio Pochettino and his staff about returning to coach the men’s national team, federation CEO J.T. Batson said Thursday.
Pochettino’s contract officially expired after the USMNT was eliminated from the World Cup with a 4-1 defeat to Belgium in the Round of 16, but it’s clear the federation would like to keep the Argentine manager around so long as he’s amenable.
In a roundtable with a small group of reporters, including The Post, on Thursday, Batson shared that Pochettino was part of discussions around the hiring of Steve Cherundolo to coach the federation’s under-23 team, which will compete at the 2028 Olympics. Though he declined to give a specific timeline for a decision, or say whether the federation has spoken with other candidates, that is a sign of Pochettino’s interest in staying.
“As we shared, we are going to take a break after the World Cup and rest and recuperate,” Batson said. “I didn’t get to do too much resting and recuperating, but we’re excited about the discussions. [Pochettino and his staff have] been active about long-term planning. … We’re feeling good about where we are overall and we’re looking forward to the discussions.”
While many expected Pochettino to go back to the club level following the World Cup, and he himself has been open about his desire to return to the English Premier League, most high-end jobs at the club level have been filled.
The federation, as reported by The Athletic, offered Pochettino an extension through the 2030 cycle before this World Cup started, making clear its interest.
Every match of the FIFA World Cup will air on either FOX or FOX Sports 1. If you don’t have cable, you can take advantage of a DIRECTV free trial to stream it all.
Prefer to check out the action live and in person? Shop World Cup 2026 tickets on SeatGeek and make sure to use promo code NYPOST10 for $10 off purchases over $250 at checkout if you’re a first-time SeatGeek user.
As for the question of whether the USMNT’s World Cup performance — topping the group and winning a knockout game, all in convincing fashion, before an epic no-show in the Round of 16 — was good enough to warrant keeping the manager, U.S. Soccer’s answer appears to be that it was.
“There are lots of things that need to be true for us to continue to win World Cups on the women’s side and for us to truly compete for them on the men’s side,” Batson said when asked why such a loss was considered acceptable. “Our focus is on putting ourselves in the best position to be able to do that. Obviously our senior team performances matter, as do the state of our youth national teams, as do the state of our pathways more broadly, as do our talent identification and development, as does the state of our coaching.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
